


The Day Nico Doesn't Smile

by whoneedsapublisher



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:08:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22992982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whoneedsapublisher/pseuds/whoneedsapublisher
Summary: Nico Yazawa, the world's greatest idol, always has a smile for her fans. Well, almost always.
Relationships: Toujou Nozomi/Yazawa Nico
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37





	The Day Nico Doesn't Smile

Nico had never told Nozomi about her father’s death.

She knew by now, of course. She’d found out exactly the way you would expect- Nico’s father had come up in some long distant, casual conversation, and Nico had smiled a pained little smile and said he’d died years ago.

It had been one of Nico’s more forced smiles. Normally, Nico was great at hiding her hurt behind a fake grin, but whether it was because she didn’t want to completely smooth it over or just because the hurt was that great, that time her pain was obvious There was no mistaking her words for casual or disaffected, and her weak smile had been worse than if she’d burst into tears.

Nozomi wished that she’d hugged her then. She wished that when she saw that broken, painful smile, she’d gathered Nico up in her arms and held her close. Had let her cry into her chest while she murmured reassuring words in her ear.

But of course she hadn’t. They hadn’t been that close back then. Nozomi was too afraid to risk Nico pushing her away, so she’d just awkwardly said that she was sorry and Nico had hurried the conversation along.

Now that they _were_ closer, though, she’d never brought it up. Why would she? There was no need to bring up old wounds.

But even with her quietly avoiding the subject of Nico’s father, she’d started to notice that there was a day that Nico would always be in a bad mood and didn’t want to talk about it.

The third year that happened on the exact same day, Nozomi figured out that it was an anniversary. The fourth year, when she realized that Nico’s mother’s smile was a little strained on that day, she figured out what it was the anniversary of.

Ever since then, Nozomi had quietly prepared for it. They never scheduled anything on that day, and Nozomi always made sure to give Nico as much as space as she needed. To her relief, though, Nico didn’t shut her out on the anniversary any more. Now, she tended to silently come to her for comfort, cuddling close to her without saying a word and letting Nozomi hold her tight.

The sixth year, Nico took Nozomi with her to visit his grave.

The weather wasn’t particularly appropriate. It should have been a horrible grey day with light rain and heavy clouds. But instead, it was bright and sunny, and Nozomi could faintly hear the sound of people playing in the park not far from the graveyard as Nico set down her flowers. But that was how life was, wasn’t it? No matter how deep your sorrow or how affecting your tragedy was, the world moved on.

“We can go now,” Nico said, after a few minutes of silence.

“Are you sure?” Nozomi asked. “If you want to stay longer, or say anything…”

“It’s okay,” Nico said. “Let’s head back.”

She was quiet for the whole day. Not like her normal self. Seeing her like that always made Nozomi sad. She was sure it would make her father sad, too. Nico didn’t talk about him much, but she’d told Nozomi that he’d always loved her smile, and encouraged her to share it with the world.

Nozomi was sure he’d understand if, for one day a year, Nico couldn’t quite manage that.


End file.
